The invention relates to a jet regulator with a jet fractioning device that is designed as a perforated plate having a number of discharge holes that are distant from each other.
The invention also concerns a jet regulator formed by a perforated plate on the discharge side that has a number of flow-through holes defined by flow guide walls, whereby the jet regulator is provided with at least one jet regulator component part that is movable relative to the perforated plate during the jet regulator installation.
The jet regulator of the type mentioned above is already known from diverse embodiments. Such jet regulators are inserted in the drain of a sanitary drain valve, in order to form a homogeneous, non-splashing and perhaps also briskly-soft stream of water. Such jet regulators generally have a jet fractioning device in the interior of their jet regulator housing dividing the inflowing stream of water into many individual jets. The jet fractioning device can be designed as functional units such as jet regulation units or flow straighteners of the jet regulator and can allow mixture of air and water. Thereby, the jet regulator is frequently designed as perforated plate, which can be exposed to large differences in temperature, hot water temperatures, high water pressure on the inflow side of the jet regulator, and can thus be exposed to significant loads. In particular, when the jet regulator is designed as rectangular regulator or as flat jet regulator and its jet regulator housing has a greater longitudinal extension compared to the horizontal extension, the danger exists that the comparably thinly designed perforated plate used as jet regulator deforms under these loads to such an extent that the jet regulator cannot fulfill the intended function, and the inflowing stream of water cannot be formed with an even jet stream.
If the jet regulator is designed as rectangular jet regulator or flat jet regulator, the jet stream generated by the jet regulator is also frequently influenced and the linearly exiting water jet contracts after a short distance into a turbulent and somewhat non-round jet cross section.
Therefore, there is the particular problem of creating a jet regulator of the type mentioned above that distinguishes itself by an even and non-squirting jet stream.
A solution in accordance with the invention involves including at least one reinforcing rib on the flat inflow side and/or outflow side of a perforated plate that is used as jet fractioning device.
On the flat inflow side, the jet regulator in accordance with the invention has in addition to or instead of the perforated plate that serves as jet fractioning device on the flat outflow side, at least one reinforcement rib, which even in the case of a comparably thin-walled or an elongated perforated plate reinforces in such a way that it is well able to withstand the influencing loads. As deformations of a perforated plate that is designed in this way are not to be expected, to that extent, functional disruptions that would otherwise have an unfavorable effect on the jet stream can be precluded as well.
In order to be able to design these reinforcement ribs as thin-walled as possible so that these practically do not represent a flow impediment, it is advantageous to form a grid structure of the reinforcement ribs crossing each other at crossing nodes.
Thereby, a preferred embodiment according to the invention provides that at least the majority of the reinforcement ribs that jointly form a grid structure define polygonal, preferably square and particularly rhombus-shaped grid openings. In particular, such polygonal grid structures can be designed in such a way that the water inflow into the flow-through holes of the perforated plate used as jet fractioning device is not noticeably impeded.
The at least one reinforcement rib practically does not represent a flow impediment when the at least one reinforcement rib is located facing toward or facing away from the inflowing stream of water with its small side of the rib.
It is particularly advantageous when the jet regulator has a multi-part jet regulator housing and when the perforated plate that serves as the jet fractioning device is formed in one piece in a part of the housing that is on the inflow side. A perforated plate that is formed into a housing part in one piece can better withstand the loads acting upon it.
The effort connected with the design and the production of the jet regulator in accordance with the invention can be reduced considerably if the reinforcement ribs are formed in one piece onto the flat side of the inflow or outflow of the perforated plate serving as jet fractioning device.
A particularly advantageous further development in accordance with the invention provides that the reinforcement ribs keep the flow-through holes free, and that the flow-through holes are preferably located axially and/or centrally in a grid opening of the reinforcement ribs that jointly form a grid structure. In this embodiment the inflowing stream of water can be captured in the comparable large grid openings and the quantity of water captured in such can subsequently be pressed through the flow-through hole that is defined by the respective grid opening. In this embodiment the grid openings thus have a concentrating effect on an amount of water respectively at one flow-through hole, and the perforated plate serves as jet fractioning device.
An additional refinement to address the above-identified problem involves that at least one of the sides of the perforated plate that face each other and/or the jet regulator component part, at least one distance piece is provided that deforms the perforated plate by a relative motion of the perforated plate and the jet regulator component part during the jet regulator installation from a non-deformed initial position into a round bodied or convexly bent application position.
A jet regulator designed according to this refinement of the invention has at least one distance piece arranged at least at one of the sides of the perforated disk that are facing each other and/or the jet regulator component part. In the application position of the jet regulator in accordance with the invention, the distance piece works in such a way upon the perforated disk that serves as flow straightener that it is deformed into a round bodied or convexly bent form. While the flow-through holes that are provided in this perforated plate have a longitudinal axis that is approximately parallel to the axis in the non-deformed initial position of the perforated plate, the perforated plate is deformed in such a way in its application position by the distance piece that acts upon the perforated plate that this perforated plate has a round bodied or convexly bent application position. In this round bodied or convexly bent application position, the flow-through holes that are provided in the deformed circumferential edge section of the perforated plate are angled outward with their longitudinal axes in such a way that the water jets exiting the flow-through holes separate, in order to only come together after a comparably long distance in to a potentially non-round overall jet. This ensures that the exiting water jet retains the desired form even over a longer distance.
It is particularly advantageous when the at least one distance piece deforms the perforated plate in such a way that the flow guiding walls that define the flow-through holes of the perforated plate toward the circumference of the perforated plate specify diverging or splayed jet directions of the individual jets guided by the flow-through holes.
A particularly simply designed, but still effective embodiment of the invention provides that the perforated plate and/or the jet regulator component part have a centrally located distance piece. It is also possible that by means of the perforated plate and/or the jet regulator component part, several distance pieces are provided that are distant from each other and have different height, which specify a defined, deformed application position of the perforated plate.
In order to be able to maintain the arrangement of the potentially required functional units at the jet regulator it is advantageous, if the jet regulator component part is designed so that it can be used as a jet regulator housing and preferably as insertion part that is designed as perforated plate.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.